Down For the Count
by Rakusa
Summary: Season 1, AU, kind of. Seiya and Mamoru are competing over the same girl. But one of them put his foot in it, and the other one hasn't done much better. Will either of them, get the girl of their dreams?
1. Chapter 1

Down for the Count

May 26th 2011

Summary: Season 1, AU, kind of. Seiya and Mamoru are competing over the same girl. But one of them put his foot in it, and the other one hasn't done much better. Will either of them, get the girl of their dreams?

AN: Yeah... this is not going to be a long story... 2 parts I think, at most. We'll see.

_Back in Time- Mamoru meets Usagi_

He caught a glimpse of the oddly located blond wandering up ahead of him. He didn't care too much, but that shade of blond was riveting. It wasn't seen to often, and especially not around these parts, though it was getting more common. He pondered for a second about that, trying to tell from her backside if she was a local or a foreigner. He noted her small stature, and lean figure, and school uniform and decided that she had to be local. Then he was pleased with his analysis, threw her into a section of his mind that he had figured out. She dyed her hair and could not be anything more than a vain and vapid female.

He did not bother with that type of female. In fact he did not bother with most people, female or male, and especially ones he thought not worth his time. His eyes went back to the textbook in hand. He did not bother to think about _why_ they they both heading down this stretch of road, or even what stretch it was. He was by far too used to it to think, having already mapped out locations and even the slightest bump to avoid on this walk and any other detail he could come to realize. So he promptly ignored it, because he had it figured out.

His eyes instead securely locked onto the page in front of him, learning more, learning something new. His body would instinctively know when it was time to turn or stop for a light, though there weren't any he had to cross.

It was in this state of unawares, anything not directly near him, person wise or fixture, he was blissfully unaware of. The only reason he was aware of people was so he could avoid them. That was why, when something landed first on his head, then onto his opened book, blocking the words, did his head snap up in annoyance.

"What is this?" He stated loudly, for he caught the girl he had noted earlier, lowering her hand. She hadn't even glanced behind her after she tossed it. She could have angered a very dangerous person, as it was, he was still pretty peeved. "Yo! Odango! Do I look like a trashcan to you?" He didn't know why he said that, there was a whole slew of insults he could have parried at her, but this one seemed the most appropriate at the moment.

The girl's back stiffened and she spun on her toe, causing the people around her to be startled and disrupt the flow of pedestrian traffic. Further annoying Mamoru. Her anger seethed at the name he called her, though really it was rather tame for some of the things he _could_ rightly call her. "Why you complete jerk, do you get off-... oh..." Her eyes widened on the paper in his hands, and he was opening it, annoyed further that she would retaliate instead of just apologize.

He glanced down at what she was in such a hurry to get rid of and he chuckled. His earlier idea of her confirmed tenfold at the score she got. "Really, Odango Atama, I would think even a fake dumb blond like you would get a better score in Japanese, something that you speak every day of your life, than this thirty. Unless of course, you have a speech impediment. Can you even speak, or do you just babble?"

He was teasing her because she hadn't done anything but splutter at him as he talked. When she reached out to grab the test from her, he finally looked at her again and saw her blue eyes blazing. Then she whipped around, not noticing his own eyes widening in surprise. But by then it was too late, he had definitely stepped in it, and stepped deep. She was gone, but one thing he learned, was that he was very much wrong. She was definitely a local, but she might not have been a dyed blond. That color combination intrigued him, and he would determine whether or not she was natural or even faker than he had assumed.

Though as he noticed his textbook now lying in the dusty street, he did resolve one thing in his second guessing, she was definitely a pest and probably stupid, just naturally.

_Some Time in the Present- Mamoru and Usagi_

Mamoru turned around a corner, bracing himself for an impact. Nothing came, and he took a deep breath of relief. He looked around, but the normal zone seemed free of his daily pain. He continued on his way, but this time as he rounded the next one, one that nothing had ever happened at before, because it was usually over by this time, he felt something slam into him with a force he was not used to.

They both toppled over, him landing on his back, and her landing on top of him, in a very unladylike position. Not that his hands were helping matters as they went around her on their own accord. One inappropriate low over the back of her hips and the other wrapped so far across her back, that it actually reached her opposite side, grazing an area that he seemed to accidentally touch more than he felt comfortable with. And that was his position on it, what she must have been feeling... well she spewed words at him often enough that he had an idea. Though she never caught on to his reaction.

Usagi jumped off of him, with an elbow to his gut and because of such sharp pain to his lower stomach it took him longer than he normally would. "Baka! What are you doing here?"

"Me? I'm walking, what do you think you're doing, tearing around corners at such high speeds? Had I been anyone else, you would have killed them!"

"There wasn't anyone else, there's _never_ anyone else." It was true, everyone _but _Mamoru learned to walk on the other side of the street years ago, leaving this side blissfully empty for the town tornado. They still stopped and stared at the more recent development of these two bickering so loud it woke children and animals several streets away. The parents were often too entertained to be angry, unless it was really bad. But even the children and animals learned not to nap in the morning until the ruckess had passed.

Everyone older than five thought they knew what was really going on between these two, though they couldn't tell them that, they'd think the person speaking was loony. As it was, they probably weren't far from the truth. Though, the onlookers were kind of crazy as well. To let these two individuals affect their day so vastly as to actually avoid a section of the street and not to sleep, was ridiculous, but no one seemed to mind.

"That doesn't mean anything! The fact is that you're a danger to society! You should be locked up!" Mamoru shouted, his face in hers, hoping that with her _naturally_ blue eyes, not contacts or surgery, shooting flames into his, that she wouldn't notice what he was trying so hard to hide from his little accidental groping earlier.

"I should be locked, _me_? You seriously think that _I_ should be locked up? Well that's one pot calling a glass black!"

"You've mixed up your sayings Odango."

"Baka, that's the point!"

"Why on Earth should _I_ be locked up? I'm not the one going around running into people and knocking them clear off their feet! I've never hurt anyone!"

"That's what you think!" Usagi shouted back into his face and when he frowned slightly in confusion and tilted his head, she knew his sharp brain was going to figure something out soon if she didn't distract him with another argument. "You're so tall and so cold, how would you know if your giant feet stepped on someone? You wouldn't even feel it or see it from your perch so high up there."

Mamoru winced, she'd just slammed him with three barbs in two different situations just then and he hadn't gotten back at her very well. He was always learning with her that appearances were deceiving and just when he had her figured out, she would smack him with another layer to her that he never knew existed before. That was the problem too, for every thing about her he finally got right and placed in its _proper_ category, he realized that he _liked_ that about her. The only thing he didn't really like was this hole that he created and was continuing to dig, thinking he was getting out of it, thinking the walls would collapse in and give him a foothold out, but he kept getting deeper as he not only got rid of any ground under him, but it also built on top of all that was around him.

"Just watch where you're going Odango Atama, I've only got one life, and I would prefer to see it past high school."

The line delivered with the right amount of laid back attitude, concern for his own well-being and scorn for her skills at walking infuriated her more than the best worded and cruelest comment. Though it didn't hit home as deep, which was a relief to the blond on the receiving end. She wasn't sure she could handle one like that this morning.

Her nose scrunched up and she got all red, mainly because at moments like these, he so damned unreachable, and she could reach everyone, except the giant oaf in front of her. "Just stay out of my way Baka if you know what's good for you." Then she stormed off, but her words were exactly the problem in a nutshell. They really should have stayed away from each other.

_Back in Time- Seiya meets Usagi_

It was probably the order of meeting that ruined this one and really changed how things happened from here. Usagi was still braised by Mamoru's insensitive taunts about her Japanese test score. Her writing wasn't her strongest point and she knew it, especially when they went and changed the characters on her, again.

She had also just taken in a cat, a fully grown, black feline that was probably still feral. It shouldn't have surprised Usagi, she had gotten her off the street, saving her from taunting boys around the same age as Shingo, her brother. Who had been deathly afraid of cats to start with, and now the feeling was mutual. The black cat wouldn't leave her alone either, always pawing at her, and whining. Usagi rubbed at the deep scratch she had gotten from the cat when she wanted Usagi to get up the night before, as it was _oh so urgent_.

Usagi rolled her eyes.

It was the weekend, and she saw something set up in the city center. Even for being a new city, and highly industrial and modern they still had a city square in the center. There were flowers and some aptly placed trees, but it wasn't like the parks down the way that she liked to visit frequently.

There were gates blocking people from entering, and a lot of other people milling about inside the city center and even more standing around the blocks. Usagi groaned as she realized they were filming yet another show in the area, this was blocked off more times than she could remember, having only actually being able to enjoy the area a handful of times. She really should find a new route to the arcade.

Instead of going all the way around, and not cutting through like she wanted to, (that she knew how to do expertly, for even though she only enjoyed it a few times, she had cut through on the other rare occasions when the most famous city center was abandoned from the harsh technology), she instead turned to her right, skirting past it. Usually she was on the other side, so she never had to bother with the trailers. Now she noticed there were a lot of trailers. She gulped, if she had to go around this, she might as well have tried to bolt through the center.

She firmed her stance and started walking towards the vehicles. Nobody was standing guard or watching to make sure trespassers did not enter. There were probably a few men on security detail closer in, near things that actually mattered, the stars, the food, the water, maybe even make up and clothes and props, but the rest of this, the rest of it didn't really matter. Except maybe the technology used in the filming, that might be guarded too. The more Usagi thought about it, the more she became less confident on whether or not she could do this. She had just convinced herself to just go, and deal with the consequences once she got caught, and half way through, she could just play it off, and she nodded to herself, and started walking. Her head hung a little, because she knew she shouldn't be there, and didn't want to draw attention to herself.

"You should have walk with purpose, nobody will bother you if you did that. You'd look like you belong. Now you'll just get caught. It's hopeless, don't even bother."

Usagi jumped and looked around, she did not see who spoke. "Wh-w-w-who's there?"

A boy swung up and over a bench he had been lying on, and she wondered where he had come from and how he could have even seen her. "Hey, sorry for frightening you, I just saw you pondering your course a ways back, and it was kind of amusing."

"Who are you?" She asked, ignoring the fact that he had found her situation amusing and that was slightly offensive, in a way.

He smiled a little crookedly at her, even more amused by what she said than her actions of earlier. "You don't know?"

Usagi shook her head, she had no idea. "No, and where are you going?"

He was walking into the area he had told her was restricted and that she _could_ have gotten away with it, had she known how, but now he was off doing it? "Someone allowed in here. You're funny, and it's cute you don't know. I'll see you around Odango!" He threw a wave over his shoulder as he walked past the gate.

Usagi's fist clenched and she growled angrily, how dare he use that name as well! Now she had to go find her way to where she was going, and to top it off, she was late! Rei was going to totally kill her. He was seriously going to get an ear full the next time she saw him!

And she did see him again, several times in fact. The next time he was still aggravating in his insistence in calling her that painful name, but he was also charming. Then the time after that, she learned who he was. It didn't change her opinion of him, but it did answer some questions, and meant that he was thrust into her life a lot closer than she would have expected a celebrity to be in. He used his charms to somehow convince her that _she_ had to be the one to show him around and make him and his family settle in better around these parts, though she didn't have to see _them_, just him. That didn't mean her friends didn't try to tag along with the same excuse, that they were going to show his brothers around.

Usagi rolled her eyes at the idea. But it did keep them out of her hair. Rei was infatuated with Mamoru, Ami had some shy flirtation going on with Taiki and Minako was all over Yaten while Makoto flirted shamelessly with Motoki, who Usagi always thought herself as crushing on, but that had quickly faded with the other boys entrance into her life, and if she were honest, long before that. Even Umino was taken off of her hands, a boy yes, and usually it was the other way around, but Naru was heaven sent to distract him. Usagi wasn't interested. Though she wasn't aware of anyone interested in her either. She just had a good frenemy going on with Seiya. Not that her friends would let her stop hanging out with him, they needed that connection so they could continue hanging out with the brothers.

Though they didn't need it, they'd all see them at school anyways, well not Rei, but still, there was plenty of opportunity. Sometimes too many, but Usagi's lips still inched up at the thought of Kou Seiya.

_Some Time in the Present- Usagi and Seiya_

There she was again, the girl who had caught his attention. Not because of her looks. Of course she was gorgeous and not just gorgeous, she was exotic, but local and natural all at the same time. It wasn't her skin deep looks that had even drawn him originally. He'd seen plenty of blond-blue eyed girls to have completely bypassed her without seeing that she did truly stand out looks wise as well.

No, what caught his attention was her antics. She had been interesting. He had wanted her, thinking it was another attention seeking, hogging limelight due to others work, and only by chance, right place, right time. But even her process to do what he thought she was going to do, made his lips quirk up, she had an entire chant going on in her head that she _could_ do it.

Then when she finally was, he wanted to trip her up. So he told her the truth, nobody probably would have noticed her presence on set had she walked like she owned the place. She had movie star good looks, she could have been thought of as a new face on the scene and ignored, or even catered to.

She had jumped a mile high and he chuckled to himself, and when she really did look frightened that some disembodied voice had caught her, he took pity on her and showed himself. If she was an attention seeking hog, he'd reward her for at least amusing him. But she hadn't screamed and clomped onto him, in fact it was as if he was just anyone in the street. A nobody. He hadn't been a nobody in such a long time.

She confirmed it by not only her words, but also her actions. That alone had attracted her to him, but it might not have been enough to hold his attention. Her looks still didn't matter, it helped, sure it did, he was a hot-blooded man after all, but it was her overall _good_ personality that drew him to her, and pardon the cliché, but like a moth to a flame. She could have been the ugliest girl, well ok, not the _ugliest_ girl, but she could have been plain and he would have found her attractive just because of that. The fact that she looked good next to him, only made him worry less about what would happen if he made his thoughts known, and all the fangirls, maybe even her friends, turned into jealous banshees. They couldn't fault her for her looks, and they couldn't fault her for her personality. Well, at least most of it. She was a little flighty and didn't get the best grades in all subjects, and a few other things.

He had yet to learn of one of the major flaws in her character, but he wouldn't think of it that way, laying the blame where it truly belonged, when he got over the ache in his eardrums. Which was definitely a flaw in his mind, but he could overcome it... and he knew about it almost from the start.

Speaking of which, this is when his ears felt like they were bleeding. He dropped his arm across the shoulders of the blond, and leaned over to look at the screen. She was winning, and if it was anything to go by, further than she normally did. He would have opened him mouth and called her by his nickname for her, but while it was cute to see her get all flustered and angry at just the mention of the word, he knew better than to make her loose focus with a Sailor V game. He would be deaf for life and that wouldn't be good for his career.

He still was too close. He got a spare glance, from when she could manage it, but didn't shuffle off his arm like she usually did, and all of the above just endeared her to him. He had to be cautious and get her truly interested before he brought up the topic, had to be sure of her feelings growing, so they could discuss it rationally. Tell her truthfully all that which could affect her if she got close to him. She didn't actively seek him out, but they had hung out together, invitations going both ways, though hers were more blatant invitations, and his were crafted to seem as an after thought, a kind after thought.

He was too close because not too long after he sidled up to her side, she pounded against the machine like a crazy person and then she let it go in shock, staring at the screen. That lasted for all of second, making him look down at her, to see if she was ok, and then her mouth opened and an earsplitting scream erupted his eardrums. He actually feared they were bleeding as she cheered. She had gotten an all time record high after beating the game. Not even the arcade-gamer had done that.

Everyone turned stared, though nobody was all that surprised, they just wanted to know what it was this time. The blond man at the counter frowned slightly towards them in confusion. Not at the screaming and dancing spectacle Usagi was making of herself, but at him.

Seiya lifted a brow, thinking the man was just trying to figure out where he'd seen him before. To piece together why he looked so familiar, or why he may be in his arcade. But then the eyes flickered from him to a man with dark hair that just walked into the arcade, and the expression changed to chagrined.

Seiya was trying to figure out the face, when he looked towards the newcomer and dark blue eyes looked back at him.

_And Then _it_ Happened._

The dark blue gaze directed at him was unreadable, and perhaps a little unconcerned, skipping right over him to the screaming girl who was about to loose her voice. Then it was as if a record scratched and the eyes shot back to him and Seiya could sense a frown overcome the man, though no muscle twitched.

Neither one knew quite what to make out of this situation. They both looked at each other, sizing one another up and not really knowing _why_. There was absolutely no reason why either one should suddenly feel a tension in their bodies, they didn't know the other. The new guy might recognize Seiya from somewhere, but whatever he knew about Seiya, had been nothing but good press.

Though he might not connect why he recognized him, and instead assume it was because he was the most wanted criminal in the world. That might be why Seiya tensed, wondering if there were going to be unwanted attention flung at him. People knew who he was, but usually gave him a wide birth. The only time he needed security guards was strangely enough when he was with his brothers.

Then when Usagi clomped onto Seiya's arm, reasonably calmer, and wanting to show him her initials and her score, it's when the other shoe dropped. Nobody else could see it, but Seiya could see a muscle tick in the man's jaw. It had only happened when Usagi had given him attention, and not only attention, but touched him.

If Seiya had been a lesser man, he would have quivered from the first glance when the new guy had noticed his proximity to her, when it was just by chance he was so close to the radiant girl. Now that the man, Seiya still didn't know his name, knew the two were on more than a simple 'excuse me, can I get by' basis, it went from scary to dangerous, and had she not touched him, he would have been somewhere in between. So he had a rival, Seiya turned away, smirking as he directed his attention where Usagi wanted it. Good, bring it on, this guy didn't scare him, and it would take a major fight, or Usagi's _clear_ decision to get rid of him, and even then he probably wouldn't go far. Not when he found her.

Mamoru was a master of keeping his face emotionless. He had sent men to their knees just with a casual disinterested glance, not even intended for them. His gaze just had to skip over you, and you were likely to back off in a hurry. The idea that so much as a muscle ticked once and the guy blatantly ignored him, seemed almost amused by it, was not only surprising to Mamoru, but made him angry.

That disregard alone would have annoyed Mamoru, but it was compounded heavily by the fact that _Odango _was touching him. Yes, it was Usagi touching the dark haired man at the other end of the arcade, and she was free to do whatever she wanted, but the man was letting her do it. That was a contradiction, but no man except family or Motoki should be touched by her. Then the man's shoulder knocked into hers, in a playful gesture to move her out of the way, and he made to grab for the controls, but she squealed and grabbed them back, the whole of her side pressed against him, moving him away from her precious video game.

The thing that always allowed him to talk to her, came flashing up as the perfect excuse. It was times like these, that he kept it up as it cut through all of pleasantries and allowed him to understand close up what was going on. Mamoru ignored Motoki and made a b line straight for them. Everyone in the vicinity moved a foot away, well aware that this wasn't _quite _normal and they didn't want to be in the splash zone.

Everyone in this arcade, like everyone on the street, knew not to mess with these two. Whether it was avoiding a particular patch of road, or not sleeping until after the shouting match, they knew that Usagi was off limits to any male. To even glance at her inappropriately was a dangerous game, though no one knew what would exactly happen, they just knew better. So for Mamoru to boldly walk towards the only one ignorant of the blatant appreciation of her character.

Though they didn't leave, all still wanted to _see _what was going to happen. Then they realized who the intended target was and were surprised. How on Earth did any of them not notice that they were here together? This was the first time that they had been here together, that was for sure, but despite Usagi's screams of joy, they kind of ignored her companion, hell eyes had all been riveted on Usagi. Now the three of them were the show, and they couldn't wait for it all to unfold.

"What's going on now, finally make it passed the first two seconds?" Mamoru leaned against the console as Usagi finally became aware of his presences in the arcade.

Her head shot up and she scowled lightly. "_No_." When he continued to stare at her, she relented. "I just beat the game and got the ultimate high."

"I bet you did." He quipped sarcastically. Then his eyes flickered over to Seiya as if noticing him for the first time. "I can't understand how you could possibly stand so close to the shrieking dwarf." Mamoru's words were edged with something that Seiya caught, and he hitched up an eyebrow over hazel eyes at the underlining threat.

"Oh.."

"Shrieking dwarf?" Usagi butted in, ruining the well thought out line Seiya was going to say, returning that threat. Her tone turned up.

"Haven't you caused enough ears permanent damage today? I think all would do better to not have a repeat performance. You never know when doing so can ruin someone's career."

By now, Mamoru had tuned Seiya out, he was no longer part of this conversation, now that he had the blond's attention. Though he was aware of his movements, and as the argument got heated over who was better by the other not opening their mouths, and spilling over into something else, Mamoru was surprised that the boy would not leave. He just stood there, mouth agape as Usagi countered every barb with a surprising retort and as the volume went up so too did his shock.

Mamoru's intention was to point out enough flaws in Usagi, and do it dramatically, that the teen idol would be disgusted and disappear, leaving Usagi, well... left alone. That way he wouldn't have to worry about protecting her from him at another venture. But he clung on.

Then Motoki made his way over and they both knew that this argument would have to end soon or else they would be kicked out. So he switched his attention so quickly to Seiya that it made Usagi's head spin. "Are you trying to recruit her? I know she has powerful lungs, but you've never heard her singing voice."

The man's lips twitched up. "I have, and it's quite lovely. Enchanting actually. It seems that I'm at a disadvantage, you know my name, but I have not been privy to yours."

Seiya's own words held a double meaning, but this time it was for both Usagi and Mamoru. That Mamoru wasn't fighting fair. Usagi didn't need the reminder, but it did serve to show that it wasn't only to her, that Mamoru took cheap shots. Mamoru was quick to rectify the situation. "I only know of you, your fan following is quite extensive, just the other day, I heard some girl pawning over a kiss you bestowed upon her. I suppose though, introductions are in order." He held out his hand, even as he bowed slightly forward. "I am Chiba Mamoru."

Seiya leaned forward the same amount and took his hand. Usually handshakes here felt like limp fish smacking against each other, but this one, was definitely a strain of wills, though the effort and pain did not show on either face. "Even though you already know it, I imagine it is only fair to confirm. I am Kou Seiya."

Neither said greetings, or pleased to meet you, for truly they weren't and the hands still held, so long after what was polite it was starting to become less awkward again. Usagi was oblivious to the undercurrents going on. Motoki reached them and broke it up, by resting his hands on both of their wrists and tugging slightly, though it would do no good. They both gave in to keep appearances up.

"I am surprised to have such a celebrity in out midst, how is it that I have not seen you before?" Motoki was chatting, standing between them on one side as Usagi was the other. Motoki knew why he was standing between the two men, but Usagi had just naturally inserted herself there. Perhaps it was to keep them from fighting, but perhaps it was because she liked being surrounded by men. One never really could tell for sure.

"She's never brought me here before."

Usagi lifted an eyebrow. "I didn't bring you here now either. How did you find me? Are you stalking me? Because that's seriously creepy!"

"As if _I _would ever need to resort to that. I have plenty of girls throwing themselves at me. Why would I need to stalk you?" He tugged on a pigtail and everyone watching straightened, wondering what Mamoru was going to do now that _he _touched her, although it was just her hair.

Fists clenched by his side, but he said nothing. The two were bantering, as if they had known each other more than the few minutes they were in here. It was like the bantering Usagi did with him, but a lot more friendly. "She seriously has an overinflated ego." The insults and Usagi's reactions to them, were not having the desired effect on the idol as he had hoped, but he still got a reaction out of her. She scowled and then made a face at Mamoru. Mamoru laughed, pleased she was still paying attention to him. She had also swatted the hand away.

"How did you find this place, anyway?" Usagi asked, stroking her hair as if he had just defiled it in some way and she was trying to clean it.

That made Mamoru happy. Then Seiya opened his mouth again. It was only to answer Usagi's question, but he still didn't like hearing the other man's voice. "I was walking past and it looked like fun. Then I saw you pounding on the game, again."

Motoki looked taken aback. "You play video games in other arcades? Sailor V?"

"Don't be silly Motoki!" Usagi dug her heel into Seiya's foot, she didn't like feeling like she cheated on Motoki and his arcade. This was always her first choice, but Seiya had wanted to check an arcade out when they were on the other side of the city and didn't feel like coming all the way over here. She didn't do it too often, but it was only because other people wanted to go, or she did, but was too far away from her favorite. She had found a temporary second one, that she liked the best, right after Motoki's. Even if maybe the arcade games were better than Motoki's, she came here mostly for Motoki, and not because she used to have a crush on him, but because he made it warm and inviting and watched out for her. He was a great friend and so she patroned his arcade the most because of it. "I would never play Sailor V anywhere else!"

Motoki frowned across the little circle they made. "That didn't answer my question."

"They don't have Sailor V anywhere else in this city. It comes from London. You're the only one to have shipped it in. Which is why you have such a girl following in here..." Mamoru looked around, and Usagi was the only girl there. Sometimes couples came in, and they were pretty rare, but other than Usagi, there was another blond she hadn't met yet, and then Usagi's friends as the newest addition.

"Mamoru, you're an ass." Motoki grumbled out. "You do know that there aren't many girls. But it does pull in the boys... and not because she's a hot skewed digital animation. We also get the ones interested in just cartoons."

"She's not a really well thought out game character. Not only the poor graphics, but also because it's too easy if, blondie here can beat it."

"Gurr!" Usagi stamped her foot and everyone made sure to move theirs out of the way. "I knew that you were going to somehow bring this all back to insult me." She turned her head towards him, and away from Seiya. Seiya saw it and was slightly annoyed he'd managed to pull her back in.

"Why aren't you stopping this?" He turned towards Motoki. Who shrugged with a straight lipped look.

"She's betrayed my arcade, I'm waiting for her to get her comeuppance."

"It was my fault. I had never been to one, and I was slowly loosing interest even as we walked towards a subway."

"Well... in that case... it's totally acceptable. You pressured her into cheating on me."

Seiya lifted a brow. "The two of you are together?"

Motoki laughed. "I'm only talking about the loyalty to my arcade. Usagi's like a kid sister. Though there are others that you have to watch out for it you're interested. And you probably shouldn't bother, you'd probably loose."

The two were still arguing in the background. Mamoru said something that had Usagi's hands slamming down onto her hips. Her actions were cute, but her voice had gone shrill and her volume had grown again. "You complete JERK!"

"Come on, it's time to get out of here. You promised me dinner."

Usagi's head whipped around. "I did no such thing!"

"Ok, fine, I promised you dinner." Seiya slipped his hand around her wrist lightly and pulled her towards the arcade doors. "Thought maybe I could weasel a meal out of you first, before you remembered that I owed you one, and that way we'd have too."

"You'd do well to take your hand off of her." Motoki whispered out of the side of his mouth, seeing Mamoru's back tense and mouth clench. To see it, meant great danger.

Seiya didn't listen and tugged her towards the door. "Let her go." Mamoru warned, even though Usagi didn't think anything of it, and it was a gentle tug, far more so than any of her female friends.

There was no inflection to his voice, just a simple sentence that sounded more like a command than what they actually heard. Usagi was actually oblivious to the underlying threat. She turned her eyes back to Mamoru and rolled them. "Go bug some other people. Come on Seiya."

As they were exiting through the door, Mamoru swore he heard the man say something as well, something only _he_ was allowed to use. There was no way though, as it wasn't a very common nickname. But he heard right. "Anything you say, Odango."

EAN: So what are we thinking? You want part 2 to come out quickly? Or in a year?


	2. Chapter 2

Down for the Count

May 26th 2011

Part 2

AN: No more flashbacks, though there _may_ be some little maneuvering like the _and then it happened _scene... but I'm not sure yet.

It was with annoying frequency that Mamoru saw Seiya around these days. He was always hanging out near the girl, and it wasn't confined to the arcade. Mamoru had tossed her an Odango one day just as Seiya was leaving to catch his ride for the studio so he could record another song. Seiya didn't react as he might have been out of earshot.

Then one day, as Usagi was arguing with Mamoru, Seiya popped in with his brothers and called a hello. "Oi! Odango, stop listening to the idiot and come play against me in a game!"

Mamoru straightened up at the blatant use of his name for the girl. She seemed to get riled by it too, but it didn't surprise her that it was coming out of the Idol's mouth. In fact, she still went and knocked him over with her shoulder. "Oh you are on!" She didn't even protest the name.

Mamoru was about to butt in, when Motoki slid him a coffee. He'd usually get more attention out of the girl if Seiya wasn't around. But Seiya felt the same way about Mamoru. Motoki just sighed in frustration. They were both very similar in how they treated Usagi and the name they both used to call her, as well as looks to a small amount. But Mamoru was his friend, and he knew how dangerous Mamoru could be, and how much this thing mattered. "You should just tell her."

"How would I even say it? Wait, tell who what?" Mamoru asked, glancing at Motoki as he picked up his coffee.

"You know who. Usagi."

"Why would I tell that brat anything?"

"Because you care for her." Motoki nudged. "You always have, even though you thought poorly of her at first. She has proven to be someone you like in your life."

"If you mean arguing with her, yeah sure, of course." Mamoru rolled his eyes. "It's entertaining to see what kinds of dumb things she comes up with in response."

Motoki frowned. "If you're not careful, you can loose her."

"What, to him?" Mamoru scowled slightly. "Let him have her. As if she'd even be interested. He's got no skills and he's practically nothing."

"There's a lot of similarities between the two of you. Nothing major, but things that are.. reflections, I suppose would be a pretty close word to it."

Mamoru's scowl deepened. "In what ways do we _reflect_... each other? I'm nothing like him."

Motoki gave him a pitying look and Mamoru was hit by the idea that Motoki knew something that Mamoru didn't and probably would never know. Mamoru gave him back a look, wanting him to just get on with it and tell him. "Mostly the way you treat Usagi, and how decent you are to everyone else, or rather, indifferent way you both treat everyone else that isn't related to a career advancement or her friends. Whom, by the way, you treat better than her."

"What, he doesn't?"

"He still treats her pretty well even though he teases her and infuriates her in someways, like you do, but also in a different way as well." Motoki's tone was suggestive, and Mamoru didn't like where the tone made his thoughts go.

Mamoru shrugged it off and went back to his coffee, ignoring Motoki's warning but at the same time, still watching out through the mirror as Seiya and Usagi bantered and teased each other.

Seiya stole Usagi's straw from her milkshake and tapped her on the nose with it. She wiped at her nose and glared at him. "_Seiya_!" She stole back her straw. "This is for eating, not hitting." Though sometimes it was for shredding.

"Ok then." Once she put it back in the drink, he stole it and drank just a single gulp before it was wrenched away from him. "Hey!"

Usagi's eyes were livid. "You dare mess with my smoothie? It's like taking the cross from the pope!"

"You are really going to compare yourself to the pope?" Mamoru asked, with something compared to shock. "Wow, you really are so very self-centered." He could stand it anymore, they were getting way too intimate, sharing the same straw and drink, though Usagi hadn't drank out of it again since Seiya had stolen it, which made Mamoru feel good.

"I was only making an allusion to how dangerous it was to steal even a drop of my milkshake. Which _you _are now ruining by distracting me from it, and its melting."

"You would still drink it anyway." Mamoru told her dryly.

Usagi paused for a moment and then shrugged good-nature. "You're right." Then she went to drink it.

"No you're right." The drink was suddenly gone from her hand and he was holding it away from her. "I owe you a real milkshake after ruining as you say."

Usagi grabbed it back. "No really, it's ok."

There ensured a tug of war between them. "It's ok, I'll buy you a new one."

"I'm fine with this one, now give it back before you really need to buy me a new one." Usagi tugged back.

"Exactly, I'll do just that."

Usagi gave him a strange look. "What is wrong with you? Just give it back."

Mamoru stole the straw and dropped it on the floor, then kicked it back. "Oops, sorry, I'll go get you a new one."

"It's ok." Usagi rolled her eyes. "Just go away." She then took a large drink out of the glass. She waved him away as she did so, and Seiya laughed.

"You heard the lady."

"More like pig, look at how she drinks." Usagi put the glass down at the end of the table and not so subtly tipped it over onto his shoe. It landed before anyone could realize what was going on and then he jumped back, but she had already straightened it. "So much for your holy drink, Odango Atama!" He snapped and Seiya's eyes sharpened on him, having not been around to hear the word come out of Mamoru's mouth before. They both knew now, that they had both happened upon the same nickname for her on their own.

Seiya, wrongly, assumed he was the first one to come up with it, and refused to change his nickname for her and Mamoru felt the same way.

Usagi though was livid, livid enough to do that. She shot to her feet, invading Mamoru's space, and poking him in the chest. "It's a special drink, and it is up to me to decide what to do with it. It definitely served its purpose there. So I can live with out what I lost." She slammed back the rest of the drink and then stormed out. Seiya sat in surprise for a moment, before he jumped over the seat and away from the fuming man.

Usagi turned on Seiya when he caught up to her as well. "Just- don't. You use that insufferable name as well! I don't want to see any more of you!" She left Seiya there as well, slightly complex-ed, he hadn't deserved her anger. Then he grinned and jogged to catch up to her again, she was surprisingly fast. He said something and she cracked a smile, which lead into a grudging laugh.

_Sometime in the near present-future_

Usagi was sitting with her friends. There were girls surrounding her, as she sat between two and another sat across. One would think they would have paired off, made it even, as that was the logical thing, but Usagi pulled people in. They gravitated around her, and if there was going to be a chance to be near her, nobody would give it up, not even ones who swore they didn't like her, or acted that way.

Rei sat on the inside of the booth they all shared, Usagi pulled down next to her as they chose naturally where to sit. It was always a fight, but at least there were three sides to Usagi, and there were only three of them, so it worked out. They had been discussing something important and quietly, like all girls did, but this one seemed to have upset Usagi somehow.

Mamoru wryly rubbed his elbow where a bruise was forming rapidly from the night before. He wondered what could upset her so. Then the brunette slammed her hand onto the table, said something and then everyone laughed, breaking the tension. Then the conversation, still private, became a lot more animated, and perhaps not so private.

He took that his cue to move in and say something that would allow him at least a moment with them. But he was beat by another three men, with several more loitering about. One was leaning outside against the building, trying to look nonchalant, as another two stationed out at a video-game and obviously did not know how to play, nor cared. One more took up on the table behind Usagi.

If Mamoru hadn't known who the three men were that came in first, he would have assumed this was a police raid and Usagi and her friends were the criminals they were surrounding. They boys all squished in, and for once, Seiya wasn't sitting across or next to Usagi. Mamoru pulled Motoki with him and they grabbed a few chairs and joined them.

"Where's Minako?" Motoki asked.

"Oh, off shooting some video or something." Usagi responded with a glance towards the girl to her left, who had straightened up and was starting to lean over the table to get a better look at Mamoru.

"Hi." She batted her eyes. Usagi and the other girls rolled their eyes, though Ami glanced cautiously up at Taiki, who was grinning down at her, amused by the black-haired girl's antics.

"Hey Rei." Mamoru responded awkwardly, everyone knew she was talking to him. Motoki was quietly chatting with Makoto.

Yaten laughed. "_Good_. I was starting to get bruises on my arm because of her clinging." Everyone was used to his crass manner when it came to Minako by now. They knew that the two weren't going to end up together, but Minako couldn't help herself, she thought he was cute, and he was popular, which was great for her, and he tolerated her, even enjoyed her sometimes.

"I know all about bruising."

"Is Odango still crashing into you every morning? I though I had a discussion with her about slowing down her speed."

Everyone turned to look at Rei, who had just used the same name for Usagi as Mamoru and Seiya. Though she had picked it up before she found out that Seiya used it on her as well. It wasn't a boy calling a girl nickname, just a tease. Even Usagi's brother had picked it up.

Mamoru noted that it was starting to get overused, and his special name for her was not that special anymore. He would have to come up with something else, or use the one that he secretly called her in his dreams. It had always been his subtle hint towards her that he liked her, he didn't give anyone else a nickname, but then again, he wasn't so mean to anyone else.

Seiya groaned inwardly, he hadn't known that so many people came up with the same thing for her, or that it was so obvious. It hadn't been, Rei had learned the name from Mamoru. She would also be the one to use the name for the longest, and it wasn't even something she came up with. Shingo would get bored with it in a week or two, trying to find something more insulting. He too would have to come up with something else, but he'd continue using it in the meantime.

Usagi screeched, but she didn't get as angry as she did with Mamoru or the way she was when Seiya used it, which had slowly morphed from the reaction she gave Mamoru, to what it was now, which was still a lot less annoyed than when Rei used it. Although that's not to say that she didn't get angry when now Rei was using it too and not as kindly.

Ami tried to break up the argument that was about to form. "So... I heard the arcade was going to have a remodeling. What does that all include, Motoki?"

Usagi's spoon dropped with a loud clatter before Motoki could respond. Had Minako been there, she too would have made some type of commotion. Motoki gulped nervously, he had hoped to keep it away from Usagi for as long as possible. "That's true Ami. Nothing major up here. It'll just get a minor face-lift, games changed out, new ones brought in, better quality and the like."

Seiya's hand covered Usagi's clenched one at the news that games were going to be removed completely, not just changed around to make it look like there were new games. "It's ok, I will buy the Sailor V game from him if it comes to that, and you can play it at my place whenever you want."

"But it won't be the same." Usagi wailed. "I'd have no one to beat."

"You'd have my brothers and me to beat, not to mention anyone who wanted to play it when they visit." Not that they every really let anyone come to visit.

"You've already finished the game with top marks." Mamoru intoned dryly.

"That's not the point baka!"

Motoki covered quickly for the gaff. "Don't worry Usa-chan, the game will stay, and will stay where it is. It is my most popular game, though I never see anyone playing it except for you. But it still manages to make the most money. I'd be stupid to get rid of it."

Usagi grumbled, and then she realized what else Motoki said. "So, what did you mean by that statement earlier? What else are you going to do?" Her eyes light up at the ideas coursing though her head.

Whatever she had thought of though, was no where near what Motoki actually had planned. Motoki grinned at her like a little boy and leaned in like they were conspirators. He was too excited though to keep it from her now that it was in the open. "Oh just a little of this and that."

Then he stopped talking, staring at Usagi. "Ooh! Motoki! Come on! Don't leave me hanging!" She whined.

"Ok, ok, fine, you win. I'm going to be opening..." He stopped again and looked at her, then made a face. "Nah, you wouldn't be interested." He turned to Mamoru instead. "Can you really be out of coffee already?"

"_Motoki_!"

Motoki winked at his best friend, for this was how it was done, teasing and leading someone on, keeping them hanging and wanting more. _This_ was how his friend was suppose to interact with the girl of his dreams. Though Motoki didn't want Usagi like that, it was fun to tease her, she was too easy not to. Which is probably why everyone did it, but in different ways. Motoki let out a tortured sigh. "Fine. I'm going to be opening up a Karaoke lounge downstairs."

Several eyes just blinked at him and he wasn't sure if they were just in a state of shocked surprised, or if they really thought it was a bad idea. "I mean..."

"Really?" Usagi's eyes got large. She could not believe what she was hearing as she never thought Motoki would do something like that. She's always complained that places needed to combine the two, that way they generated more revenue. If you got tired of singing, go play video games, and if that wasn't doing it for you, singing was always there too. You could come in and leave as you pleased and enjoy both with friends. Though you still had to sign up for the hour.

Now Motoki was going to do it. Usagi couldn't think of a more perfect announcement, even better that he already reassured her that her favorite game was staying.

Motoki nodded, just as excited as she was. "Oh yeah, and I was thinking of employing you for some help, but only if you want to, and not too many hours."

Usagi hesitated, biting her lip, wanting to agree without a second thought, but... she shook her head to clear it of any restraints, she'd do it. "Usa-chan, are you sure?" Makoto asked as a cautionary voice, though she looked excited too. "You've taken on a lot of responsibilities recently... Luna, school, to mention a few. Do you think you'll have time."

"Sure she will." Seiya piped up. "One of her added responsibilities was me, and now I'll be here helping her out, so that's one less burden, or two, considering that I'll be _helping _her."

Usagi peaked through her lashes up at him and smiled her thanks. Mamoru glowered. "Well, Motoki will be able to get more done downstairs, so it'll go faster, because I will be helping out up here." Mamoru announced to the surprise of _all _at the table. Not one single person thought that he would do something alteristic like that, not even his best friend, who hadn't even mentioned it to him until now.

Everyone seemed hesitatant, hell, they believed the movie and singing star to be so giving over him. He began to wonder what they would all think if they knew his true feelings towards Usagi, and how they would react. It was then that he realized that were he to go after her, he'd have more obstacles than just Seiya, Usagi's misgivings and his own big foot to deal with. He'd have a whole arsenal of friends against him and it would have only been worse, as he would have been emotionally messing with her instead of whatever this was.

They could deal with on the scale it was now, but if he even hinted- hell, Motoki nudged him in that direction, but even Motoki might have a problem with their relationship. He had to work on being more approachable. He felt a little sick at the thought of it. But he needed to make himself worthy in all the eyes at the table, especially one pair of blue ones. Well, ok, seeing the hazel eyed man and his siblings, _not all_ the eyes needed to approve. Little did he know, it was a green eyed gaze that he'd have the most difficulty changing.

Motoki made some mild protest, though he didn't try too hard, probably seeing it for what it was. A move to keep Usagi and Seiya from spending so much time together. Though Mamoru hadn't done such a good job so far. He even probably pushed them together more.

"Where exactly do you think you're going to build this? What are the plans?"

"Well, there's a staircase near the bathrooms, I bet none of you realized that. However it only goes up, into the apartments in the back. Have any of you gone up to the restaurant?"

There was a staircase outside that lead to Lizzie's restaurant, it was more of a cafe though. They all nodded, they'd all gone at some point. Lizzie was the English name of Motoki's little sister, who since she had started English in school long ago, she had refused to be called anything else, not even Elizabeth. Usagi wasn't sure she even knew her real name anymore.

"So, nobody really paid attention to the one in back, but I'm going to have people come in and break ground and have the staircase go down. Don't worry, it will be completely sound protected, any singing wont be heard by any of the other rooms downstairs and not only will the games drown it out up here, but there'll be sound proofing there too."

"Have they already decided where to build?"

"Unfortunately, it'll only be in part of the arcade and extending back behind it. They discovered some weird rock that's extra strong in the main part of the arcade. So I could always build around it, but they said it wasn't cost effective to try and break through that."

The other girls seemed relieved at the news, though the boys couldn't imagine why they would be, such a random thing too. "Then it's settled then, we will all help out around here and you can have the arcade/karoke lounge you've always dreamed of."

"It'll be a real live all inclusive." Minako sighed, sliding in, and on top of Yaten. She wrapped one arm around his neck. He tensed, but he didn't remove her from his lap.

Ami's nose scrunched up at Minako's word choice, but she refrained from correcting her, it wasn't worth her breath sometimes.

"What were you acting for?" Motoki asked, allowing for a change in topic.

"Acting?" Minako tilted her head confused for a moment and after her eyes slid to her friends, who were looking at her expectantly, did she finally remember. "Oh! It was good! I didn't realize you meant _before_, because I thought you were claiming I was acting now!"

Mamoru and everyone stared at her, before he made a gesture that meant, _aaaaannnndddd?_

Minako giggled nervously. "Oh, nothing much, just a commercial for Korea. I'm only vaguely heard in the background. I don't understand why they would even bother having me in it. But I'm glad for the pay check and experience."

The Kou brothers nodded, they understood, it took awhile to break through and then out. Though Minako did have some important roles, she just wasn't world renoun yet. "Any other gigs lined up?" Taiki asked, turning his attention away from Ami. Usagi wasn't sure that one would go anywhere, and even if it did, wasn't sure it would last. Ami for all her claims of intellectualism, was only interested in Taiki for his body. Sure his brain didn't hurt, and his looks and personality didn't either, but Ami had admitted that this was something she was taken unawares of, that she was just _attracted_ to him, and nothing else. That's why it was only a flirtation, she wasn't interested in more, didn't find anything to talk about that would lead to more.

Now... Motoki and Makoto... Usagi had to hide her grin behind her hand as she tuned out the shop-talk, and watched with the corner of her eye as those two interacted. Nobody would have thought there would be anything in common between the two, but there was, and more than that, there was _everything_ right with them. They didn't think anyone was paying attention to them as they shared small touches, fleeting but with glances towards each other, they knew it was more than an accident it happened, and they returned it. Usagi could melt at how sweet it all was. That was a relationship Usagi was willing to place money on.

Seiya moved and caused his hand to shift, and she hadn't realized that they were still holding hands. Usagi bit her bottom lip, trying to be unnoticed by everyone, as she contemplated what that meant. She was very comfortable with Seiya, she got along well with him, when he wasn't being so damn cocky. Though that was part of his charm. He was always there for her. He'd just proved that in so many ways even during the time they'd been sitting here togethere, and he didn't hover, but he did like to touch. She appriciated all of that. He was kind of perfect. Sure he had his faults though. But as she watched him, she realized that he had more positives than negatives.

She found eyes on her, but they weren't just on her, and she lifted her gaze to a pair of dark blue ones that were unreadable and were trying to read _her_. She lifted a blond brow at his visual interogation. He was a complete jerk and she would rather him be anywhere else but here, and she had no idea why he even needed to be. Then again though, it'd be strange if he wasn't. Then she realized what else he was looking at and she wasn't sure if it was still her he was looking at, or just uncomfortable with the blatant contact. Though if he was, then he should be having more problems with Minako and Yaten.

Their fingers were the only thing now interlaced, and loosely at that, and Usagi listened to his words. He was offering Minako a part in one of their episodes, a sort of guest star role, and not as an actress or a break out scene, but one that would acknowledge her before the episode even aired. Usagi grinned and squeezed his fingers. "That's a very good idea Seiya!"

Minako though was hesitating. Usagi turned her attention to the girl who hadn't leapt at the chance. "I'm very flattered at the offer. But I'll have to think about it and get back to you. Not to mention I bet my agent would like to look over the details, last time I agreed to something before going through her, I never heard the end of it."

Seiya bowed his head in acknowledgement. "That sounds very reasonable. Odango, if you want to, you're more than welcome on set to watch if Minako agrees."

Usagi's eyes lit up. "That sounds amazing! I'll definitely take you up on that offer."

_Like hell she would._

EAN: You're demands have been answered, I have updated, and it wasn't in a year! It wasn't even a week! Let's keep it up?(Supposed to have 3 ?s here, stupid ff) BTW, I totally forgot what I was going to say for that BTW, but it's ok, let me know!


	3. Chapter 3

Down for the Count

May 26th 2011

Part 3

AN: Ok, I'm sorry that there's three parts, I'm getting better at keeping my promises, this time I've only flowed over by 1 part and trust me, it will finish in this part. Or maybe not... hehe...

_In the past, but not really- just the pick up of the last part, but a little time later_

Usagi and Minako were walking home together, and Usagi nudged Minako in the side. "What's wrong?" She asked, truly concerned. "And don't give me that bit about the agent. I'm well aware your agent supports most of your decisions and is only there to make sure you get all the money you're entitled. She doesn't tell you what to do and not do."

Minako frowned, trying to figure out how to phrase this exactly how she wanted it to be. In the end she gave up, she was good at adlibbing on set, but with Usagi it was impossible. "I'm just not sure I want to take a role that I didn't earn on my own merit."

"Don't be silly! You earned this part."

"No I didn't Usa-chan!" Minako pouted. "I only got offered the part because of my connection to you."

"What do I have to do with any of this?" Usagi pondered, truly wondering.

"It's because Seiya likes- I mean, it's because you and Seiya are friends and becuase I'm friends with you, he wants to make me happy, hoping it will make you happy!"

"Ooh... well.. when you put it like that..." Usagi looked away for a moment, and Minako feared that she hurt Usagi's feelings, but Usagi was looking at her again, before she could even reach a hand out to touch Usagi's arm. "It's the dumbest thing I've ever heard you say, and I've heard some doozies!"

"Usagi!" Minako called out in shock, unsure how to take this, but Usagi was on a role.

"You do realize that no matter what I was to Seiya, he would never cast you if he didn't think you would be any good, right? You are a good actress and that's why he wants you on! Maybe our connections had something to do with it, but isn't that how all jobs are formed, especially in this business? It just put the two of you in touch a lot easier than agents calling each other and things getting confused in the middle. Hell, it got confused anyways and you were sitting 2 feet from each other!"

"Well... when put that way, you're absolutely right!" Minako knew she was using Usagi's words and used it to her advantage, for she did it in a similar way too. She clomped onto Usagi's arm. "Thank you for the pep talk! You are completely my hero in all ways, Usa-chan!"

"Mina-chan!" Usagi protested, but she linked arms with the girl practically her twin, and in this country, everyone else thought so. "Not as much of a hero as you are to me! I can't think of how many times you've saved my hiney!"

"In more ways that one..." Minako laughed, then she slapped the aforementioned body part.

_Sometime in the future- but not too far_

Many things happened over the next few weeks and months. Though nothing of real importance either, but it did set the stage for what would unravel in the near future.

Usagi was busier than ever, and she didn't know how it all happened. She was helping Motoki on the weekends and after school, but when she wasn't doing that, she was on set with Minako and the Kou brothers.

The seasons were changing and even though it was nearing Christmas, there was no snow, and the weather was still pretty nice, almost like early autumn. They were finishing up with Motoki's remodeling, and the show had wrapped up for the season, and production would be back in after a few episodes aired to see how they did. Minako's guest appearance had sparked a huge wave of viewership and they made her a reoccurring guest role, not an official cast member, but someone that would be pulled in on occasion. Minako loved the work and the Kou brothers enjoyed having her on. It was a win-win situation for them. Now they could go off and do other projects, well, more in depth at least.

Usagi was looking forward to the break, it coincided with her school term ending. Not, a break in the year, but an actual year finished and she didn't have to worry about any make up work or trying to get ahead or rather, catch up to her peers until after school started up again. She hadn't been doing much better, but it had been a marginal improvement.

If everything worked out, then she could enjoy all the work she had been doing now. She could watch Minako and Seiya's tv show as it aired for the first time, and play the video games and sing karaoke downstairs all the while, enjoying _Motoki's _burger, Mamoru did a very good job, but it wasn't the same. Truthfully everything she ate that Mamoru served her was better in so many ways, but it wasn't just that she didn't want to admit it and concede that Mamoru was great at yet another thing, it was because she missed Motoki's unhealthy, greasy, not so good burger too.

That wasn't even including the Milkshakes. Mamoru refused to serve her one, point blank refused. Denied her the one thing that she enjoyed above all else at this place. He conceded that she could have a _healthy _one, but not the calorie, fat loaded one she was so fond of. She blamed that on the weight she was loosing. It wasn't like she needed to. Perhaps that's why when Usagi collapsed on the counter after working on the heavy boxes downstairs, Mamoru looked at her and slid her a milkshake, one of the blessedly bad for you ones she had been denied for so long.

"What's with the pity?" She mumbled out between gulps, if she kept it up, she would be without one again before she knew it and she had a feeling she wouldn't be getting another.

"I've given in. You look rail thin now, and I understand why you down these artery clogging sins." Mamoru leaned against the counter in front of Usagi. "Tell me, have I really been doing that poor of a job that you've stopped ordering the usual?"

Usagi held his gaze for a moment, he had given other customers, right in front of her, milkshakes, though he did deny her friends too, but that was more because all knew they would give it to her. "If I had ordered the usual, you would have given me a salad anyways."

"That may be true, but you haven't even been ordering anything. You've avoided the counter for the last few weeks."

"Probably because you don't abide by the customer's always right motto." Usagi grumbled.

"The customer may be, but I was looking out for your future."

Usagi rolled her eyes. "This coming from the man who downs black coffee as if it is his only food source."

"Could well be."

"Yah, that's healthy." Usagi took another gulp out of her milkshake and smiled in pleasure.

"If I had known that, I would have given you one a lot earlier." His words were cryptic, as it wasn't in response to her barb. "I'm sorry, I'll give you these from now on, you look like you could collapse permanently at any moment."

Usagi was too weary to even bother answering, she had been helping Seiya move heavy boxes, and when she said heavy, she meant _heavy_. She was surprised she wasn't pancaked under some of them. "How are you doing up here?"

"Why, want to change jobs? Is it getting to be too much for you?" He pushed away from the counter to go help another customer and Usagi watched him walk away, he really worked that apron. Then she groaned and buried her head in her arms, she must be tired if she was thinking that way.

Some how he was back and was taking away her mostly finished milkshake. "Hey! I wasn't done with..." Then she looked at it and it was completely cleared out. "Oh."

"I would have taken it anyways, with the next comment I was going to say." He warned her, and he never did that before. "If we had switched jobs, then everything done would have been for moot, as you would have burnt the place down."

Usagi wished she had something to fling at him, and she understood why he wouldn't give her milkshakes, he wasn't looking out for _her_ future, but his own. "Point taken, now hit me up with another one, I've missed them." He did, and she finished half of it instantly. "God, what does Motoki put in these, crack?"

"Heroin, but close."

Mamoru walked away and his tone was so serious that Usagi almost believed him for a single heartbeat and then she was yelling at him through the divider to the back kitchen. She couldn't hear if he responded, but she did hear his laughter. She found it too contagious.

_Different Perspective- slightly_

Mamoru had been trying to be nicer, to look out for the girl in an obvious manner, but she obviously didn't view it that way and everyone else thought he was just being a further jerk by hording her food, especially as she was being kind enough to help out. So he finally relented and gave in to her, he always would anyways, even if it wasn't good for her, if she weanted it, it would have to overrule her well-being.

When Mamoru came back out, he found a sight he never wanted to see. Usagi and the dark haired idol had been spending way too much time together, Mamoru knew that, but at least downstairs Motoki was overseeing them, and was on Mamoru's side. And even though Minako wasn't on his side, she at least was on set with them. He didn't know for sure about any other moments alone. He knew they went to school together and so had numerous opportunities to sneak off together, or do something outside of classes.

This though, was too much. Mamoru found Seiya's hands all over Usagi, rubbing her arms, neck and back, and she was leaning into it and moaning softly in appreciation. She looked happier now than she had when he had finally given her a milkshake. He had thought at the time, that if it was all it took to get her to smile at him like that, he'd exploit it, but Seiya had always been several steps ahead of him, never having buried himself as deep as Mamoru had. Mamoru had started six feet under. Seiya, maybe three and it had taken this long to finally dig himself out.

It was with a smack of realization that he was very much on the cusp of loosing all opportunity with her. He had to act fast or loose her forever. But he couldn't just blurt out his feelings for her. Then again, Seiya hadn't either, so maybe he still had time. Or maybe Seiya had and Usagi turned him down. That warmed his heart cuddles a little.

Ugh, what was he saying? Heart cuddles? That sappy poetic crap should be left at the singer's feet. He was the artistic one, Mamoru while romantic, was not sappy. In truth, he never had to be romantic either, so he didn't know if he could do it.

Seiya tugged on Usagi's ear and winked at her. "Best to go back down, don't you think? I'll join you shortly. I just have to throw out some of the rubble."

Usagi smiled up at him and nodded, now more relaxed than she had been and practically skipped downstairs. Mamoru's anger reached boiling point. So when Seiya went outside, he followed, taking with him a few bags of trash, less than he normally took out at a given time.

Seiya turned when the door slammed shut. "Oh, it's you." Seiya wasn't too pleased to see the slightly taller guy. Seiya couldn't figure his game out, he pushed Usagi away so hard some days, it seemed as if he wanted her dead, and yet, at the same time, it was clear that no other hands should touch her. Seiya thought that was very unfair to Usagi, and it was even worse when Mamoru at least acted civil towards her, it gave her the false illusion that she wasn't as horrible as Mamoru obviously thoughts she was. Then Mamoru would crush her hopes again.

Seiya had enough of him, and it was about time he got rid of him and upped his own game. But first, he had to find out what Mamoru wanted, because he obviously wanted something. No other time in the last few months, had Mamoru even stepped one foot near him, or allowed himself to be in a room alone with Seiya.

"Yeah, it's _me_." Mamoru responded with something in his tone that was meant to imply something greater.

"It's not exactly a mystery. Then again, it's me, too." Seiya wondered where this was intending to go. "I'm smarter than you give me credit for."

"Oh, I'm sure you are. Smart enough to trick the dumb blond in there."

"I hope you're talking about Motoki."

"You know I'm not."

"It's exactly that kind of thing that makes it, _me_ and not you." Seiya dumped the load he was carrying and turned to Mamoru who also put down his trash. They were done hiding the riddles, and both knew they were talking about something else entirely. For once they were clearly on the same page, and Mamoru was going to make it even more so.

"Stay away from her."

"It's her choice, and so far, I haven't seen any reason why she would chose you over me. If anyone should stay away, it's you."

"I've been watching over her a lot longer than you've been in the picture."

"I hardly doubt that, because if you were watching out for her, you would have seen me enter the picture _months _before you met me." Mamoru looked taken off guard by that. "Oh, she hasn't told you? Then again, why would she? It's not like you two are exactly on talking terms. I've been meeting up with her for a very long time. We've been alone more times than I can count. We've done more than just sit and talk too."

He was hitting home, Mamoru's fists started clenching and he could see the tension building in the taller man's posture. "To what are you inferring?"

"Oh, its all pretty tame in public, a few hand holds, and no one knows anything else is beneath the surface." Seiya pressed a little more, knowing this was the most dangerous game he had ever played and he was enjoying it. "There is so much you don't know. So much _I_ know about her that you'll never learn. I intend to learn only more."

Mamoru growled, actually growled at Seiya and he hesitated only a heartbeat, but Mamoru was speaking now. "You will stay away from her. You will not go near her again. You will not touch her, you will not even look at her." Mamoru never had to actually say these things to anyone before, never had a need to, his glance had been enough.

"Oh, I will do more than that. I enjoy looking at her. Especially the way she walks in those oh-so-short mini skirts that she's such a fan of. I can just imagine my hands slipping up just the hairsbreadth distance from the hem to what would give the two of us such amazing pleasure." Seiya had thought of it, and had enjoyed the fantasy. The shortness of the skirt should have been illegal. He would have been as enraged as Mamoru at the thought of anyone looking at those long lean legs that never ended, had he been Mamoru. But he was better than that, he knew that Usagi needed her space and needed her freedom to do as she pleased, and if the short skirts pleased her, then so be it, at least he got to see her in them too. "In fact... I might as well suggest them the next time we're alone. I have an especially dark place that I haven't shown her yet. She'd be putty in my hands before she knew what hit her."

That's exactly what happened, but instead of anything hitting her, something hit him before he was even aware of it. Well... that might not have been entirely true. He saw the fist flying faster than he had thought it would, and hadn't known it was coming until the last second, and then he realized it wouldn't hit him, but the wall just next to his ear. He moved, pretending to try to dart away from the fist, but instead, moved into it.

It hurt, it hurt like hell. It hurt a heck of a lot more than he had been expecting, and his face was smarting because of his big mouth and his genius plan. Then something he couldn't have planned for happened, the door to the arcade opened and Usagi was talking. "Silly boy, you should know better than to let it shut all the way, otherwise you'd have to walk around to-" She stopped cold as she took in their stance, at first surprised to see the two together and so close. She blushed at first, thinking she walked into something she never would have imagined, but made perfect sense if it was true. How they had this tension between them. She hadn't known what it was, never before having experienced it, but she hadn't been expecting this. "Um, I'll just..."

"Odango-" Mamoru started, exasperated, ready to deny anything she might fling at him, and his tone was what set her off, if it had been what he thought she was going to level at him, then it wouldn't have been helpful in his case in the least. It also didn't sit right with what she thought she had just witnessed, well, kind of.

Her eyes turned to Seiya who hadn't said anything, but now that Mamoru turned towards her, she could see the bright, pulsing red of his face. As if he had just been attacked. "Seiya!" She gasped and was suddenly by his side, the door by luck, remained open. She lifted shaky fingers to his uninjured side and turned his head so she could have a better look. It was already swelling, the blood rushing to the surface that had just had a fist imprint itself on. It was fat and red and as she watched, she realized it was even bleeding. His fist broke skin.

"We have to get you to a hospital, get this checked out. You might have broken bones." Her eyes were glued on Seiya, and they were round and huge. "Come on, what else might have been hurt?" She asked as she tugged him away from the wall.

"Odango-" Mamoru knew this was all going to get blamed on him, and he needed to fix this situation right now, before it got out of hand. Before it got more out of hand, his hand felt like it had broke when it crashed into Seiya's face. If it had hit the wall, as he was intending, then there might have been a dent, but his hand would have been fine. "Listen-"

"Don't talk to me." Usagi said softly without turning towards him.

"Listen Odango, it's not-"

"Shut up Chiba-san." She said it as nicely as she could, or at least politely and he realized he had taken the biggest step back he could have. She had never called him Chiba, not even the first day she threw insults at him. She wasn't even calling him baka.

"Odango."

"You've already caused enough damage, just go away." Usagi slipped Seiya's arm around her shoulders, something she usually shrugged off if she wasn't playing Sailor V or another video game that required attention. "Seiya, can you talk? You've been unusually quiet. I'm sure you've had a lot of tussles with your brothers, just pretend its one of those that just got out of hand, if that's what's bothering you."

"It's not that. I'm just a little dizzy. It took me by surprise and if I hadn't been jumped, I would have been better able to defend myself." Seiya squeezed her shoulder in reassurance. "I'll be ok, I've had worse." Though in truth, he might not have.

"Good, I was wondering when you'd get this ugly mug rearranged, I was sick of looking at it." She was trying to break the tension and wanted to get him to laugh, and though he chuckled a little, he couldn't too loudly, as it was painful. He appreciated Usagi's attempt.

Seiya stopped Usagi near the door. He turned his head towards Mamoru and though it looked painful, he grinned at him, Usagi didn't see. "No hard feelings." Then he let out a pitiful gasp that he tried to hide, and Mamoru wasn't sure if that one was a play or not, but he had to hand it to Seiya, he sure knew the game. Except to Mamoru, this wasn't a game, and even it was, he wasn't going to lose, he couldn't.

Usagi didn't look towards him once, absolutely refusing to do so, not even when she snapped at him. "All right invalid, let's get you inside so Motoki can look at you a little and if he can't do anything for you, the least he can do is call us a cab to get you to the hospital, Sei-chan." It was a giant leap, Mamoru had never heard her call him anything directly, and now it was suddenly Sei-chan?

Mamoru's body just burned at the idea of all that this meant. How could he have f-d it up so much? Seiya had maneuvered him into a fight, and he didn't even deliver on the promise of one. He just made Mamoru look like the super-villain, without trying too hard. Well played Seiya, well played. Mamoru had to figure out a way to get out of this and put Seiya back in the mud.

Though he couldn't do anything until Usagi calmed down, or it might make things worse, but he would have to find that out for himself.

_Sometime after the debacle_

Mamoru tapped Usagi on the shoulder, intending to be completely reasonable and straight-forward without getting into an argument. Too bad she wasn't feeling the same way. "Go away, Chiba-san." She told him tensely.

"Odango, please just let me explain."

"Explain?" Usagi shot to her feet. "Do you have any idea what you did? You _punched_ him. In the face!" Usagi was working herself up into a nice little tirade, and Mamoru dropped a finger onto her lips to stop her.

"It wasn't my intention."

Usagi took a step back, venom seeping from her gaze. "I don't care what your intention was. You do not go around punching people in the face and especially not customers, or people who are helping out your best friend. Do you have any idea what you could have done to his life? He uses his face for his career, which is just starting up. He's an actor! And a singer, but to sing, you need to be able to work your jaw. He got lucky you didn't break anything."

"Is he the one feeding you all of these bullshit lines?" Mamoru grumbled, not wanting to be taken down a peg by her.

"No. I know this to be true, and you are the worse kind of person for trying to take that away. I don't know what was wrong with you, to do this kind of thing to someone. None of this matters, what really matters is the fact that you went back there and started a fight. All I know, is I don't want you around me. I don't need someone as violent as you near. So please respect my distance."

Usagi would have never asked for something like that in the past. Not even with how much he hurt her. But it had always been verbal, and this time he had really gone too far.

"Usagi-"

"Tsukino-san." She corrected automatically, not pausing to think what her name coming from his lips actually meant.

"I'm not a violent-"

"I don't think anything you can say will negate the fact that you took a swing and it hit Seiya." She looked him directly in the eye, ignoring the pleading look he was giving her, the one that claimed innocence. "Stay away from him too."

"Usagi-"

"What happened to Odango, anyway? When did you get so familiar?"

"I thought you didn't like it?"

"I don't, but since we were never friends, it was appropriate. Calling me Usagi-anything, is a violation of the correct order of familiarity. You are not family, a friend and you sure as hell aren't a boyfriend. We're barely acquaintances. Even one of those knows me better than you do. Do _not_ call me Usagi."

Well that ruined what he really wanted to call her. He took a deep breath, wanting to calm himself, so he could counteract her anger better. Then he realized that was part of the problem. He had to let the anger go away by itself. It might not completely, but once she finished stewing, he might be able to put it out, or at least cool it more. He nodded, she would come back around on her own.

In the meantime though, he could do all he could to make her thaw out a little, and if that meant providing her with freezing drinks all the time, then so be it.

_Later on down the road_

They were still working on the finishing touches, the paint, the hanging, the location of everything. Usagi was working on the upper trim of downstairs walls, while Motoki was moving around some of the games as they agreed upstairs. Seiya was taking care of the stripping off the varnish, which was a little dangerous if done wrong.

Which is why Usagi was far away from it, but still had a mask on, so they could get more done at once. Mamoru came down the stairs, carrying a milkshake, and two glasses of water, as well as some fries. "Time to eat and drink." He announced, and saw a black cat dart out from under the ladder Usagi was on, knocking into it as it bolted up the stairs. Thus, causing the ladder to rock, knocking Usagi off balance, and with a screech and hands grasping but getting in contact with nothing, and falling backwards.

Mamoru put the tray down, knocking one of the water glasses over and not even noticing it as he caught Usagi in his arms, though it forced him to his butt as well. She clutched at his shirt, had she fallen to the ground, she would have broken something, maybe many things. Maybe something very important, like her neck or back.

Then she looked up to see who caught her and she pushed away with disgust. He had been down there every day with more and more milkshakes, she was starting to get sick of them. Them and fries and hamburgers. Maybe he was on the right path before when he was trying to make her eat healthy. That way she'd still at least enjoy her favorite things. Now everything was free and often, so often it was making her queasy and this fall didn't help either.

She jumped to her feet. "What'd you do? Why'd you knock over the ladder?"

"I didn't knock it over. I saved you."

She sneered and turned up her nose. "If you hadn't scared her, then we wouldn't have had this problem."

"I can't believe you're blaming me for this." Mamoru stood up and towered over Usagi. Seiya was standing there shocked at the whole thing, fearing for her, but not being there in time, and beyond that, he couldn't go to her now, as he was covered with harmful fumes. He was standing under an intake vent, keeping it away from them. He should have been doing this outside, but they didn't want it exposed to the weather or to bother moving them again once they finished. It had been easier to have the movers put them downstairs right away.

He didn't think Mamoru would do anything to her, but he still wanted the two of them apart. He had been enjoying the peace and quiet of the past month, everyone had. However, he was enjoying it for a different reason all together, it meant that Mamoru couldn't do anything to confuse or upset Usagi. That meant a lot of her attention was on _him_ and not worrying about why another person didn't like her.

She could start thinking about the one that does.

But now they were back at it, like no time had passed. They were arguing as they always had. Usagi was screeching at Mamoru and Mamoru was yelling at her, and throughout it all they were passing insults back and forth as if it was perfectly normal behavior. For them it was. Some people might be relieved that they were back to their normal selves, that there was no longer an awkward tension between them. However Seiya was not among those that thought that way. Motoki however was, and no matter how much sound proofing he had, with the games off and the upstairs closed for the evening, he could hear the two back on track, loud and clear.

A smile crossed his face as he finished moving the games and worked on wiping down the bar and tables.

Mamoru was secretly smiling too, but he didn't let it cross his features, not even a smirk, nothing to suggest to Usagi this is exactly what he wanted, just wasn't planned. Although to be fair, it wasn't exactly what he wanted either.

Before he knew it however, Usagi put one finger on his chest and pushed him away a little. "Just go back to your hole upstairs. We're working down here."

"Like I'm not working upstairs?"

Usagi shook her head. "That you're not. Not like we are."

"Maybe I could help out down here as well then." Mamoru cast a pointed glance towards the ladder. "Seeing as how you can barely stay up by yourself. I might just have to be down here to hold the ladder in place."

"I was doing just fine before you came down here." Though it was a little dangerous and maybe she shouldn't have been almost on the top step without any support. Then again, not that she was thinking about it, but Mamoru was, that she shouldn't be wearing a short skirt and being on a ladder and painting. Really, what was she doing painting in that kind of outfit, and with only Seiya down here with her? Obviously though he wasn't doing anything, as he was all the way across the room. Though if she had fallen off in one of the other rooms she might have hurt herself. "You're not needed. Go away."

Even though she was still dismissive, it wasn't nearly as bad as it used to be. He grinned down at her cheekily, he'd gotten somewhere with his over the top kindness towards her.

Seiya glared at him from across the room and Usagi rolled her eyes at the older boy, and pushed him towards the stairs. "Honestly, go. You're wasting time."

Mamoru's lips were still stretched across his face and he nodded and gave her a two finger salute and went back upstairs. Usagi turned back to her ladder and fixed it before climbing it again and returning to work. Seiya reluctantly did too, having nothing to say to her, and she didn't say anything to him about any of it, so it wasn't his business, but oh how he wished it was. She let out a giggle a few minutes later, her mind still on the encounter, perhaps.

The sander in his hand slipped and he scrapped his knuckles against the wood.

EAN: So... this is going to be more than 2 parts, but not too much more... four, I think? Five? Six at the most, though, I'm thinking closer to four...


	4. Chapter 4

Down for the Count

May 26th 2011

Part 4

AN: I don't know if you caught it last chapter, or if you care, or whatever, but when I put Karaoke and the arcade together, I was totally intending to go completely cannon on all of this. Motoki owns an arcade in the anime, his sister runs a bistro/cafe/diner somewhere around there, and in the LA Motoki runs a karaoke lounge. So there you go, it's completely cannon... however, Seiya and Mamoru interacting is not, so take your pick.

Another Note: I think it is funny, within minutes of each other, I got two completely different reviews, one telling me she should end up with Seiya, and Mamoru's an ass. The other telling me that Seiya's been a complete jerk and perv, and she should end up with Mamoru... I'm paraphrasing of course, this isn't exactly the wording and I'm inferring the second one to mean with Mamoru... it makes my point clearer. Anyways, so the funny bit is, I've intentionally made them both asses with redeeming qualities. My intention is to have absolutely no Mary Sues, some minor characters with underdevelopment, sure, but no one is perfect in this story. Not even Usagi.

_Next few weeks_

Usagi didn't know what was happening. She knew that the days were over for a long time with her friends being on set and acting, but that didn't mean Seiya was finished for the year. He was actually rather busy and she felt bad for taking up his time and doing such mundane tasks such as helping out at the arcade. She even kicked him out one day, and another made him promise that he'd just do his idol work, and not bother with the arcade. Seiya's response had been that the arcade could be considered part of his idol work, but she ignored him.

Then he started pulling her to the studio to watch the three brothers perform and record their songs. She knew all of them by heart now and they weren't even on the radio yet. Seiya opened the door to her. "Hey, Usagi, we need a girl to do a temporary voice so we can see how this will lay out. Can you come in please?"

They had been spending a lot of time with her recently, and when they weren't performing, during the breaks, Seiya would sit with her outside the recording studio. She should be in there now, watching, as she wouldn't be heard, but while it was nice and all, she'd heard it all before, and she needed something to eat.

Usagi was nervous, they should have asked Rei or Minako to even do this part, not her. Seiya sat her down in front of the mike and with a beat, they started.

It didn't last long before they were calling a halt to it and she was being adjusted. They made her stand now, and Yaten took her place, Seiya stood right next to her, in front of his own mic and when the music started again, playing mostly in her own ears, and not able to hear herself, she started singing the lines that were written in. Most of them were the same, but some were different too.

She was too quiet, the others knew it before they even called a halt, but instead of doing that, they wanted to see her push through. Seiya grabbed her hand reassuringly and somehow it boosted Usagi's confidence. She turned her head slightly and smiled at him when she wasn't needed to be singing.

When the song finished, they all put their headphones on and listened as the track played back for them. She thought she did all right, but the professional girl they brought it could do much better. Yaten was the one to pull off his headphones first and whirled around on his chair to face her, before jumping to his feet. "It's kind of amazing." He was flabbergasted, he wasn't expecting that from her. Apparently neither as she. "I like the soft lead in from her, it adds something to it that we hadn't thought about."

Seiya was nodding along as Yaten talked, he had first taken his headphones off, and put himself slightly in front of Usagi to ward off any negativity, but when none came, the black haired brother sighed in relief. "I completely agree."

"Perhaps the professional can reenact it." Taiki added, but the others looked at him like he was crazy. "We're not really going to leave Usagi on that track, are we? It was just a practice."

"Don't worry about it." Usagi was saying. "I won't get offending, you told me that right away."

"No way!" It was Yaten that came to her defense. "No one else would give it justice. It's staying how it is."

Taiki looked thoughtful. "Perhaps we should see if we could write her into more songs." He grinned at her blanching. "I've heard you sing all of our songs, it wouldn't be hard, you already know all of the words."

"More than any of that though, you sound _good_." Seiya was serious but the way he said it came across as teasing. It didn't help that he started playing with her hair, tickling her with the end of one pig-tail.

Usagi giggled and swatted him away.

"That is, if you want to."

"You can't really be serious." Usagi was now tugging on her hair, but Seiya didn't release her hair. "I'm no singer."

"I'd beg to differ." The manager popped his head out. "Are you sure I can't sign you?"

"If I were to sign, I would need to think about it, but I've never desired to be a singer. That's more Rei and Minako's dreams than mine."

"But if one person's got talent, and another not..." Yaten realized it was the wrong line of persuasion. "Maybe they'll make it big, but that doesn't mean you should smother your own voice. There's always a different voice for a different sound. Your sound fits in well with what we want. Perhaps in the future we'll need their voice for a different sound."

Usagi may have been tempted by the offer and the charming words of persuasion, but on the other hand, she really didn't want to do it. It was already hard enough being friends will all these famous people, the Kou family the most famous of them all. Yet all her friends were varying degrees of famous, and Motoki owned his own arcade and now karaoke bar, and not to mention whatever else he neglected to mention that he ran. Mamoru too, even though he wasn't her friend, he was famous in his own right, and then also independently wealthy as well. She wasn't famous or rich or anything, it took all her willpower to have enough money to last a week from her allowance. Though that didn't mean she wanted it either.

Perhaps one day she'd be well-known in her own right, but when that day came, she wanted it to be how she chose it, and not something that was either thrust upon her, or by an off chance that she was good at it but had no passion for it. She already had enough of that in her life as it was, and she wasn't always good at it either.

She hesitated and they understood that it wasn't something she was going to jump at right now. They accepted it. Though they'd still push her to record another song with them, or two, and she might be persuaded in doing so. She'd still get credit, but it wouldn't be a huge thrust into the spot light, just credits.

They all promised to have at least one solo song person brother on each album, but sometimes that meant that the other brothers did things in the background, like play the guitar or write the lyrics. Seiya was _the voice_ but he was also capable of writing his own music, but she hadn't seen a complete thing done by him yet. Yaten was recording his song, Taiki was in the studio, controlling the panel and Seiya was outside with her, sitting by the window. Usagi was looking out over the sea, from the vantage point, she could see over all of the other buildings and into the dark blue expanse beyond. "You kind of forget these things exist so close to us, when we're surrounded by the city and go on with our daily lives. It's the end of summer and I haven't even been to the sea once this year. Or at least, not the one that's at my doorstep."

"To be fair, it isn't exactly the cleanest of ports, and there aren't many beaches within stumbling distance." Seiya gently rebuked.

Usagi's lips curved upward. "No, that is very true. I guess that's the downside to living in the busiest city in the world."

"I bet you as well, from where you live, it would be faster and easier to take a train north to the beach, then the subway out here." Seiya's hands slid through her long golden locks. "Your hair is just too addicting."

Usagi laughed at that, and turned her attention to him. "I'll tell you what, you can play with it all you like, as long as you stay on my good side."

"Is that a promise, angel?"

Usagi nodded, she liked his new nickname, it wasn't because it was terribly accurate, but at least it wasn't odango anymore. "Of course."

"I would like to invite you to the cabin we're renting for the summer's end festivities. We're performing as well, but that will only be a small part of it."

Usagi's eyes lit up. "Oh? Where will this be?"

"Close to Osaka." He held up his hands when she cast him a dubious look. "All of my brothers will be there, the manager will be running around, and you can invite Minako and Ami if you'd like. There's plenty of space."

"Just the two?" Usagi would feel bad, but at least it wasn't her putting the restrictions on it.

"Yeah, to tell the truth, Yaten probably would prefer not having anyone but you and Ami, but I'd like someone to drive him nuts, it's just too fun to pass up. As for Makoto and Rei, to be honest, they scare me a little."

Usagi snorted a little at that. "They scare me sometimes too. Rei more than Makoto." She nodded as she thought about it. "I think I'd really like that, and I'll extend the invite to the other two as well. When would we be leaving?"

"In two weekends." Seiya lifted a hand and smoothed back a strand of her hair. "I think the three of you could either leave with us or meet up with us at a location and time we'll have to figure out."

"When you say leave with you, what do you really mean?"

"The three of you would spend the night at our place, or meet up really early in the morning. Our manager likes to get going. That's why I hardly ever leave for tours after class." She had noticed him missing a few times, but had figured he was either sick, working or just taking a day off, because he could do that kind of thing.

"Yeah, let me talk to them, and I'll let you know." She smiled at him and tilted her head. "For a weekend?"

"Long weekend, we have Thursday and Friday off."

"Ah... then I'm totally down for it, I don't have any holiday plans, neither do my parents. I'll just make sure that even if the girls don't come, that I'll get my parents to think I am surrounded by girls, and there is going to be adult supervision."

The adult supervision though might have been more immature than the three Kou brothers, combined even. Especially seeing as how there weren't any parents. If Usagi was a different person, she might have used this as an excuse to go a little wild, and maybe she would, but if she was a different person she probably wouldn't have been invited.

Seiya grinned and then he stood up briskly. "Well, I might as well get you home now." He tugged on one of her ponytails, getting her attention to get up and join him.

She followed him, but instead of taking her home, he hailed a cab and helped her into it, closing the door behind her and giving the taxi driver more than enough money to get her home safely. She was slightly bemused at how fast he was trying to get rid of her just after he invited her.

Usagi was entertained and excited to go, and she would enjoy it.

Meanwhile, when Mamoru would find out about it, after the fact, of course, he'd throw a fit.

_Two weekends later..._

Minako decided to join, having free reign and being a bit of a wild-child, she wouldn't pass up the opportunity. Ami declined, she had plans already, she was going to a genius camp to become even more of one and to challenge the other so-called geniuses with her brilliance. "She's just an attention hog, she can't stand it if anyone else thinks their smart." Minako joked when Taiki inquired on Ami's whereabouts.

Taiki hadn't responded and looked back forward out the window, leaving the two 'couples' together in peace. Minako briefly pondered if she insulted Taiki, but she didn't dwell on it too long, latching onto Yaten and asking him about their most recent jobs and then all about her own. Usagi rolled her eyes at Yaten who looked absolutely horrified that he had to deal with the entire drive to Osaka. He caught her look and he couldn't help but lift his lips slightly, even Minako's best friend thought it was too much.

Seiya was sleeping peacefully against the door of the limo, completely ignoring and blocking out the world with his sunglasses, and headphones. He had ruffled Usagi's hair before getting in the car, and then he hadn't engaged her company at all. Usagi didn't mind, she pulled out a manga and started reading while munching on a snack.

It seemed like no time had passed before she too was sleeping, having been roused out of her bed too early, or rather, the spare one that they had in their apartment that she shared with Minako. Her head managed to find his shoulder and when she woke up again, it was to Seiya complaining that she was slobbering on him. She only shifted and he wrapped his hand in hers, but her head was now against the back of the seat and they didn't seem to notice the change in positions.

Minako though noticed and she frowned slightly, turning her blue eyes to Yaten whose own hazel eyes, that were almost exactly like his brothers', was looking out the window, watching the scenery. Minako nuzzled her head against Yaten's shoulder and let herself drift off to sleep. That moment was Yaten's favorite of all the interactions he'd had with Minako. Not because he found it sweet that she could fall asleep so easily in his company, or that he liked the contact, but because she was blissfully quiet. He had no idea how he let Seiya convince him all the time to allow her to come along, just because the black-haired Kou was hung up on the other blond...

Though Yaten did enjoy Usagi's company, and Seiya was charming and convincing and Yaten was never able to out-argue his oldest brother when he was set on something. Yaten noticed that all but the driver was asleep and Yaten grinned, he could do whatever he wanted.

Though Taiki was difficult to get to, having sat up in the front seat, when there was plenty of room in the limo for him in the back, he probably was too smart to let Yaten have free range at him, especially as Taiki seemed to be Yaten's favorite target. Seiya was too devious, he was able to get back at Yaten with annoying frequency, and so very clever as well. Yaten took a moment to plan what he wanted to waste in the limo for pranks, he had an entire long weekend with more victims than he was used to, and he'd relish it, but he had to prioritize his pranks.

_Later that day, as they pulled into a gas station to refuel..._

Yaten laughed with merriment as Minako rolled herself out of the car and inside the convenience store, she needed to get more snacks as between her and Usagi, they'd managed to deplete the supply in the hours that they'd been awake. Everyone stared at her and she struck a pose, relishing the attention and taking for granted the reason. When she got back to the car, she didn't even bother to look into the window, just crawled back in and stretched out against on of the large seats.

On her face was a drawing of something not quite appropriate. It would be funny to see what their reaction would be, when they all got out of the car and learned that they all had parts of a complete set. Yaten snickered to himself, granted, it would wash off tonight, as it wasn't appropriate and they were going to be in the public eye, and blown up to gigantic proportions and they had a reputation to keep up, or at least slowly destroy so nothing would be shocking.

Besides, he wasn't that vindictive. He was also a bit vain, knowing if it was even semi-permanent, he'd be stuck with something worse. He may be the youngest, and the dumbest, but he wasn't stupid, no matter what the tabloids said. That didn't stop him though from doing some really stupid things.

_Osaka, finally!_

Minako woke up as some point and the other three were still sleeping, not saving him from her chatter that was never ending. Even his entertainment of the three's predicaments was not enough to just groan every time she started another sentence. Then she started talking about something remarkably more interesting.

Though he was already zoning out so much that he didn't catch it until after it was long pass reasonable to restart it. Then he was cursing himself for finally tuning back in, and kindling her belief that he cared about what she was saying.

When the driver pulled into the cabin the five high schoolers would be sharing and numerous staff, Yaten practically bolted from the car with a half form excuse about wanting to check out the place before all the best rooms were taken. The cabin was huge.

Minako was left with the task of dealing with the two slumbering in the back with her as she remarked to herself how strange Yaten was being.

Seiya was woken up from a dream he was having, it was quite nice as well. He was in a boxing rink with Mamoru and the two of them were facing off for the championship. Seiya had knocked Mamoru down twice and he was down again, struggling to get back to his feet. The announcer was counting down until it was considered a knock-out and then they'd have to go one more round before Seiya was considered the winner. As long as he won that one too. If not, there would be one more match.

Seven

Six

Five

Four...

Three...

The voice was getting slower and more distant but at the same time was getting clearer, becoming a voice he recognized.

Two...

Then he woke up, realizing it was all a dream and the voice he was hearing was Minako who was holding his nose closed and counting, to see how long it took him to realize he couldn't breath. He bolted up and glowered at her. "What do you think you're doing?"

Minako made a face before she shrugged innocently. "You seemed like the easier one to wake up. How was I to know that you two are peas in the pod? But still, I was right, you were easier."

Then Minako slipped out, before Seiya saw what was on her face, and she was in too much of a hurry to explain and bolt than pay that close of attention to Seiya. Seiya turned his attention to what Minako had brought to it, and saw that Usagi was curled into a ball and sleeping peacefully. Seiya stuck his head out of the car and called the driver over so they could maneuver out of the car together and once they did, Seiya carried her inside.

Minako was twirling in the huge empty space, well it wasn't quite empty, there were couches and a TV console-let there with every gadget imaginable. However the room itself was quite spacious and practically without a ceiling. The roof was three floors about them and there was glass panels over the shared spaces. This room was all windows that extended to the kitchen area. Seiya watched how much Minako enjoyed it, and it was quite gorgeous. The view was breathtaking as well.

He was looking for a beachfront property, perhaps one of these days, he'd purchase this place. Though the current owner was more than satisfied with renting it out to the random celebrity and all the damages that would likely occur.

Perhaps it was because he was still half asleep, but it was the first time that he noticed what was on Minako's face, and glancing down, he saw it on Usagi's as well. "YATEN!" He roared, turning to find a reflective surface, and discovering just what his youngest brother had done.

Yaten, wisely didn't make an appearance. In fact, he practically vanished. The noise was enough to stir Usagi out from her sleep and she insisted on getting down to her feet. Seiya got a text at about the same time, he glanced at it and all it said was: washable.

The three of them split off to take care of their respective drawings, and when they got back, Usagi was the least concerned. She shrugged at the inquiry. "I have a younger brother, I know how all of this goes. He's done worse."

Seiya laughed and grabbed Usagi's hand, pulling her outside and down towards the beach. Minako was lost somewhere, probably going to take her revenge on Yaten. She was not a girl someone wanted to mess with very often. She seemed all bubbly and happy-go-lucky and defenseless on the outside, but crossed, she was a bear to have around.

Seiya and Usagi splashed into the water and went up to their knees, not intending to get very wet today. That didn't keep them from kicking up their feet and splashing around. Usagi and Seiya were laughing with joy by the time the other two brothers and Minako joined them.

Minako was wrapped around Yaten's arm again, having forgiven him too easily and she crowed with glee, pulling Yaten towards the water's edge. Getting their feet wet, Minako pulled away from him, and Yaten sighed with relief, to be left alone. Then two hands landed on his back, and surprisingly forceful, knocked him clear off his feet and sent him flying into the deeper water. It caused a small wave to splash back onto Minako, but it was a price she'd pay for having doused him.

Usagi and Seiya and Taiki roared with laughter as Minako just struck a victory pose. Then she squealed as Yaten came out of the water with a speed that took her off guard, and she tried to run away, but the water only slowed her down. Though it slowed him down as well, and Minako had a slight advantage over him, even though she spent a lot of time in England, her house was on the beach.

She made it to the shore before Yaten finally caught her and knocked her down, falling on top of her, and to the shock of everyone watching, watched as Yaten's head came down on its own accord and covered Minako's lips with his. Three sets of eyes just grew large at the action. "Uh... I thought he couldn't stand her." Seiya muttered to his middle brother.

Taiki's words came from the side of his mouth, not wanting to draw attention to his answer by anyone down with them. "It must have been one of those love-hate relationships, where the tension finally bubbles to the surface and they act on their true feelings."

Seiya's eyes flickered to Usagi to see how she was taking this. She was slightly disgusted at the idea. "Seriously, if they were in love all this time, why on earth would he hide it in disdain? She at least didn't hide her feelings. That's just complete bs, nobody outside of movies does this kind of romance comedy stuff. Then on top of that, usually the best friend knows the true feelings, and trying to get the blind one to see, but nobody thought anything like this could possibly happen."

Seiya grinned, he liked her stance on it.

Then the two started doing more than kiss and started getting a little frisky with one another. "Oh come on!" Usagi shouted. "This is seriously taking hormone overdose too far! That's all it is, there's no feelings behind it other than excitement to be somewhere completely different and on their own." The other two probably didn't agree with her latest assessment, but they came over with her to break the two apart. Seiya and Taiki each grabbed a shoulder and pulled Yaten to his feet and then moved him off towards the cabin. Usagi grabbed Minako's arm when she jumped to her feet, outraged that the two would do something like that, especially now that she finally got him to respond to all the times she'd thrown herself at him-

Minako's eyes turned to Usagi. "Why?"

Usagi held her gaze, clearly thinking something different than Minako. "Really? You'd just let me make out with... uh, Umino? Just because I happened to kiss him?"

"Ew, no. But that's completely different! You don't like him and he likes you and I'd seriously think something happened to you to go off like that."

"How, pray tell, is that any different?" Usagi wondered. "Minus the fact that he's now with Naru."

Minako didn't have an answer and they both knew it. Minako dropped her head. "Thank you. I suppose it could have gotten really out of hand."

"Any time." Usagi then hip-checked Minako, who giggled and returned it. "Gosh, we're on a beach in Osaka, staying in a gorgeous cabin."

"And I just made out with a Kou. Oh I really hope I didn't ruin our weekend. If Ami was here, maybe she would have been able to soothe things over."

"I wouldn't worry about it. We can soothe better than Ami any day." Usagi grinned wickedly. "Though she did warn me if that's the only reason these guys invited us, she's got the police and lawyers on speedial."

"I'm not sure I want to know why." Usagi shared Minako's devilish look.

"Come on, poppy, let's get going." Usagi grabbed Minako's hand and tugged her towards the house, for really, to call it a cabin anymore was just ridiculous as it was bigger than her house! And she lived in a pretty nice house for Japan.

Yaten went back to hiding, and when Minako came in, she found only the other two Kou brothers. Minako couldn't even claim that she'd done that to get back at Yaten for drawing on her. It had been Yaten's actions that had caused the whole mess, and with that in mind, Minako squared her shoulders, he should be the one to account for his behavior, not her, as she'd made her interest in him clear from the start. It wasn't like she's squirted love potion number 9.

_Dusk approaches and then Dawn_

Somehow the day slipped through their fingers, and soon it was night. It wasn't hard, as most of the day had been spent in the car, traveling to get there, and weeding through heavy traffic on the onset. Had they left any later, they wouldn't have been able to enjoy the sun at all and may have still been traveling.

Yaten came out from his burial hole, and they played card games through the night, the conversation between the two would have to be had latter, and on their own. In the mean time, they were determined to just put it off. For the most part, they managed to make things seem normal. Then there were the odd times where Minako would choose to skip Yaten or make him draw more cards, or Yaten would studiously avoid making Minako do either of them. Or they would switch if it seemed like it was too obvious, that they were overcompensating. Then the whole thing would start over again.

The time they all fell asleep was neglected in the idea that they all fell asleep at various moments around the same time, and in interesting positions. At some point they retired from cards and started talking on the couch. Usagi sat in between Taiki and Seiya. Yaten had fallen asleep with his head against the back of the chair only he occupied, he was the one that hadn't slept stretched out in the back.

Minako had sat on the ground in front of the couch with her head on Usagi's knee as they chatted. She fell asleep at some point in that position. Taiki nodded off just before Usagi did, or was it the other way around? Someone was still talking as the sleepy Usagi and the gentle snores of Yaten lulled Seiya asleep as well. Usagi's reassuring weight against his side and her head on his chest, not to mention the overwhelming warmth.

The adults had gone off somewhere. They had provided meals and then disappeared. Perhaps to the smaller, if only fractionally, cabin down the street. Where they had a bit more of an adult party, assured that the kids weren't going to get up into shenanigans. If they were, hell, they were superstars and teenagers. It was warranted. Luckily, the Kous, Minako and Usagi were more mature than their adult supervision. Or more of children that they didn't even think like that, to take advantage of the situation. If they had thoughts like that, it would have been a secluded area that nobody knew they were going to. Because that's how much they were really children.

The next thing anyone knew, it was dawn peaking out through the curtains and despite all sleeping deeply, it was hardly completely restful, but that didn't stop them from rolling off the couch, one by one, perhaps by twos, and pulling themselves out the door and back down to the beach, watching the sun rise. Usagi's hand was in Seiya's as they splashed into the sea, Minako on her other side, hands connected as well.

They all crashed onto the beach and laid there, soaking up the sun and spending way too much time on the beach, but its what they came here for. Eventually Usagi roused herself and kicked a bit of sand at Minako. "Come on, lets go put our swimsuits on. I'm ready for a swim."

Minako followed Usagi dutifully up the walk, back to the cabin. Seiya and Taiki took that opportunity to question Yaten. But that didn't mean that Usagi and Minako were safe from a real conversation either, theirs just happened to be while they were changing.

"What's going on between you and Seiya?" Minako popped the question before Usagi could ask anything.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, he's brought you all the way out to Osaka for a getaway trip, and that has to mean something. Once you start traveling with a guy-"

"Is that why you and Yaten started making out?" Minako didn't have an answer. "What are you doing? Why don't the two of you figure out what happened?"

"Because, it didn't mean anything. Like I said, this trip is about Seiya asking you. Yaten didn't ask me, so anything we are doing, is only a temporary affair, not something like your thing, inviting you with, means something deeper."

"Please, it isn't like that with Seiya and I." Usag was starting to get uncomfortable.

"One day you'll finally understand the dating world. Though, of course, in Usagi's perfect world, things like this happen all the time, men just dripping off your fingers. You can do no wrong."

"Oh come on Minako!"

Usagi wasn't free of her shallowness. It didn't matter to her whether someone was famous or not, not really at least. It didn't matter if they were the hottest person on the planet. It didn't matter if you were a good actor or a good singer, she enjoyed the craft, but that's where her appreciation ended. No, what she got hung up on, what she was faulted on the most, was you could buy her happiness. Well, perhaps not her happiness, but her favor. Getting nice things made her happy, so you could infer that it was buying her happiness. But not having nice things also made her happy, it could be hand made or nothing at all, just spending time with her. But she still squealed in delight if you placed jewelery in front of her, or clothes or manga or even ice cream. She wasn't picky, but she did get bought, a lot. She wasn't even always that thankful for the things people bought her.

She wasn't rude and demanding, but she might not have always been gracious. Just a passing thanks, her adoration with the item far out weighing everything else. It could stand to be reasoned that if there were two boys fighting over her, with practically unlimited funds, could choose to do something like that, and whoever bought her the most would win, or the most expensive. But it didn't work like that, she wouldn't know the value of everything bought and to throw it in her face would actually be worse, and if you brought it to her attention that's what was happening, she might get disgusted by it. However the main reason it wouldn't work, is because she wouldn't start compairing who gave her what, just pleased to have new things, though once it got to be a lot, she'd start noticing, and wondering what was going on.

But more than that, if it got to that point, then she would forget who gave her what as it all just piled up. So unless it was something really special, nothing would really stand out.

Now, before they each set off to find her something really special, each doing that would negate the value in her eyes. They'd still be on equal footing. Besides, there were other ways to win her favor. And both Seiya and Mamoru were doing a very good job of it, though she didn't know it yet.

Mamoru was treating her to all sorts of treats and food, and though it was Motoki's food, and she recognized that, she also knew that Mamoru paid for half of it. Seiya was doing better, he wasn't doing it solely to win Usagi's attention, he honestly invited her along because he wanted her there and thought she'd have fun. There may have been an alternate motive, but it was only after he asked her, that he began to think of it.

Now it might seem like when comparing those two things, Mamoru was on a steady slope away from the finish line. However despite Seiya's grand gestures, and obvious showmanship and being more acutely in the public eye, Mamoru wasn't out of the running. Especially as how he had yet to really step up to the plate. Hearing of what Seiya had done and where Usagi currently was, Mamoru was sure to have a heartattack first and then when it was rebooted, he'd have a new look at this whole situation. Seiya might be in the lead, but Mamoru had a few tricks as well, Seiya had pulled out the big guns too early, even if it hadn't been his intention. Mamoru was well-versed in the art of subtly, something men weren't known for, and something Seiya could only brush up against, instead of just declaring it outright to Usagi his feelings. If he had, perhaps all of this might have gone a little different, as he would have been so very _different_ from each other. Instead, like Motoki had mentioned, they weren't the same person, far from it, but there was something else, that they were acting off one another instead of just being completely true to themselves, they ran the risk, and not just risk, but actually doing it, they were _reflections_ of one another and that was always confusing.

The question now became, because to change either, would only bring up more confusion, was what kind of reflection they were. Were they the mirror image, the same but reversed, or were they like a pond, when smooth, pretty accurate, but as soon as something disrupted it, it rippled and distorted, similar features, different locations, same colors, but dissimilar features. Or were they like a very old window, you can see something that vaguely looks like you, you know it because there's a shape that moves, but you can't quite make it out.

Maybe there was one that was the best, maybe all of them were horrible, and she should choose someone like Motoki, with no trace of either in him. She had been attracted to it at one point, but as she'd shown before, it can change.

Whatever the right answer was, it wouldn't be discovered until everything was laid out on the table plainly there for all to see. Well that, and how it was done, for Usagi was definitely a fan of the show quality, but done privately. One thing was for sure though, it was up to her, and she needed to come to the answer, her friends couldn't influence her decision, for then how would it be how she truly felt, and would stick with it?

"He would lay down anything you asked of him. What do you want from him? Money? A song? A trip? Private tours around not just movie sets, but studios as well? You've already got two of the four."

Minako and Usagi let the conversation dropped because they both didn't want to get into it anymore, and both got into their vacation. When they got back to the beach, the Kou brothers were already changed and wrestling in the water. When they noticed that the girls had returned, Seiya came, well, running would be an exaggeration, but came out quickly. He picked up a beach ball and threw it to Minako, who bounced it back and got it to Taiki.

The three of them joined the remaining Kous in the water, and they enjoyed several hours of playing, and enjoying the surf. At one point, Seiya ran for the ball, just as Usagi was going after it as well, and his arm slipped around her waist, brushing across the bare skin of her mid-drift and together they bounced the ball back to Yaten, but they tumbled a little and went under just as the small wave took them. They returned to the surface spluttering and then started laughing and spread out again, as the ball was just heading to an empty spot.

Their trip was just starting, they were only two days in a five day weekend. It had been pretty uneventful, and if things kept the way they were, it was going to be a great one.

_Elsewhere, across the country_

Mamoru sank down into his familiar bar seat, now on the correct side of it, back to where he belonged. He looked around. They were waiting for the paint to dry downstairs before unveiling the grand opening, but there were still gamers upstairs, as there had been the entire remodeling. Except one gamer in particular was missing. Actually more than just the one.

There were two girls in the booth that usually occupied five. It was two that were similar in some ways, but probably never would have met in a million years had it not been for other friends. Mamoru slid into the booth with them and Rei latched onto his side right away. He tried to remove her from it, but she was strong. "Where's Ami?" He figured she was either with the other two, on set at some movie or TV show that the Kous were acting in, or off on her own doing something smart.

He was right, at least partially. "Oh, Brain camp or something like that." Rei waved off airily, but she should have known better, he was brainy too.

Though he missed Rei looking pointedly at Makoto, probably telling her to make a quick exit. Though maybe not. "And the blonds?"

"They're off with the Kous for the weekend." Makoto responded before the kick landed in her shin.

"Where?" Mamoru asked, trying to remain casual.

"Oh, they're presenting some kind of concert a few hours away." Makoto didn't learn why Rei had kicked her and so kept talking and got another one. Makoto sent a warning glare towards Rei, if she didn't want retaliation... Then she realized what she'd just done and Rei was starting to reassess who was the dumbest in the group, honestly. Though Makoto had an honest reason, she hadn't thought of Mamoru in that kind of situation, she didn't like it. So to hurt him, pleased her.

"Why are the two of you here?" He kept his voice level, and Makoto was pleased to answer, but moved her legs first.

"Oh, we weren't invited." She responded flippily.

"You let the two weak blond-headed girls who fit the stereotype to a T, go by themselves with three famous rich guys?"

"Well, when you put it that way..." Makoto drawled, feigning concern. "Then yes, we did. Why not? It's good for them. Perhaps if they can melt their dislike for us, then maybe we'll get invited next time too."

"It's not dislike." Rei chided, displeased. "It's fear."

"Same diff." Makoto brushed it off as if it were lint.

"So did Minako managed to finagle herself a ride out there with them, and tugged Usagi-san along too?" He was working on calling her by her real name more and more. Especially as Odango was over-played.

Makoto grinned at Rei, before turning her eyes onto Mamoru, Rei looked scared, and now understood why they weren't invited. "Actually, the way I heard it, was Seiya invited Usagi, and told her that she could bring Minako and Ami. Ami already had plans, but it was a surefire way of making sure Usagi came."

Mamoru, like Minako, understood what that meant. What Seiya's intentions were. Though both were wrong at the initial intention, as Seiya had thought about Usagi's desire to got to the beach, and knew he was going, so invited her along because it would please her. Though Seiya understood how it looked, and he wasn't exactly against that message either.

Mamoru pushed away from the table, acting without thinking and he practically ran out of the arcade, though in a more dignified manner. Once he was out of sight, Rei turned to Makoto and hissed. "What do you think you're doing?"

"Just because he's making small notions towards being nicer to Usagi, doesn't mean shit, he's still a jerk to her, and I'm getting back at him, for her."

Rei knew Mamoru was a lost cause until he got over Usagi, but that didn't mean that she wanted to accept it logically nor did she want him to be picked on. She had hopes that once he realized he'd lost, he'd turn to her. It might mean that she's a little bit pathetic, but at this point in her life, she didn't know any better. She still had that childish hope.

Mamoru got to his car and started driving, he was halfway out of Tokyo, when he realized he had no idea where he was going. He knew they were at the beach a few hours away, but that could be anywhere. Hell, it might not have even meant that they were still in Japan. He pulled over and banged his head against the steering wheel. Seiya might have won this round, but he was far from out of the fight. Mamoru got up and brushed himself off, Seiya was going to be in for a fight and it wasn't going to be an easy one. He just hoped they didn't end up knocking each other out permanently and leave Usagi in tears, having both options taken away.

Following that logic, but not doing so, should have shown Mamoru that perhaps if he knocked Seiya out, Usagi wouldn't want Mamoru, but would have preferred Seiya instead, and heaven forbid, Seiya won the fight, and it was Mamoru she'd wanted all the time. He would hate to lose to Seiya and have been the one who would have won, had he not fought. Too bad he didn't use this logic in all parts of this fight, because he should have known better than to get physical.

–

EAN: Hahah! I've finished another part... I THINK there'll be one more part...


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